The Birth of Ninjutsu
by whodidthewhatnow
Summary: After her first confront with Kenichi, Kisara is visited by a strange man who wishes to teach her his way of life. What she didn't knew was that man is the successor of the Sage of the Six Paths. Rated for language and violence.
1. New World: Proposal of A New World

_Author Notes:_

_This story is inspired on Naruto: Path of the Rikudō Sennin from MathiasNightlord01, and even if it is a bit of stretch, the concept was quite interesting to pass._

_For the readers of my other stories, that doesn't mean I will abandon them. Zero/Familiar Records just need to finish a few sections on the second chapter and to check the facts on the source material, while the Strongest Heir and X-men, Unexpected Evolution also need some more polishing. I have the general outline of the last two, but not the details of the plot yet, sorry._

_Up until chapter three, it will follow more or less the original intention of MathiasNightlord01, and after that it will deviate quite fast from both his fanfiction and Kenichi canon. Due to the nature of the cross over, expect the world of Naruto to be inherently different._

_As for pairing and such, there will be, but not much emphasis on them. _

_Any questions please send a PM or give your reviews._

_As for a Beta Reader, I'm still waiting for one._

* * *

><p>"Damn that stupid dairy cow!"<p>

It wasn't a good week for Nanjo Kisara, the newly appointed 'Eight Fist' of the gang called Ragnarok. First she meet that annoying guy that not only managed to defeat most of her underlings, but had the nerve to say he won't hit a girl, thinking they are weak!

However above all else was the friend of Kenichi that pissed her off the most: not only she managed to defeat her in a humiliating way, but she keep flaunting her 'talents' in that skin tight suit as if rubbing on her face how much the 'daily cow' was superior to Kisara.

To add salt to the injury one of her underlings distracted her from achieving her highest score on her game!

Currently taking a break from her training, she leaned against the window of her hideout. The night breeze cooling her skin while soothing her aching muscles. She was about to resume her training when she noticed a faint mist spreading through the room, and all the lights from the room turning off at the same time with a single 'click'.

She told herself she wasn't scared, that it was just a power shortage and the mist simply came from outside. There was nothing creepy in all this, and definitely it didn't reminded her of some bad slash movie.

That's why she only squealed a little when she heard steps coming from all directions towards her.

"W-who is there? Show yourself!" She valiantly demanded while taking a step back, tensing her body in a fighting position while furiously checking her surroundings.

"Good night, Nanjo Kisara. Or should I say, 'Valkyrie'?" Said a male voice from around the room in a calm and pleasant voice, the worst kind if the movies ever taught her anything.

Suddenly some parts of the mist parted ways finally revealing the mysterious figure. He, because that voice could only mean it was a he thought Kisara, was wearing a white short sleeved trench coat with red flames at the bottom of the coat. He had his arms crossed, wearing a green flack jacket over a set of dark blue pants and long sleeved shirt behind the coat. His face was obscured by the lack of light but she could discern some blond strands of hair and a blond beard framing his face.

Kisara instantly sighed, relieved.

"Phew. For a moment there you almost got me. I thought you were a ghost."

"Ah", answered the man, "I understand, I never liked them myself. My experience with it is quite bad." He nodded sagely, while Kisara replied with a nod of her own before realization hit her.

"Wait a minute... What the hell are you doing here? Who are you?" She demanded from the blond, not wanting to think too hard as to why she was previously getting along with this weirdo.

"Well, I am here to test you Kisara. As for who I am", he cocked his head to the side a little and gave her a grin, "why don't you try to beat it out from me?"

"Oh yeah? Bring it on weirdo!" She shouted her battle cry before running to him and using the momentum to deliver a powerful flying ap chagi, or frontal kick, with her left leg. The stranger ducked the attack and quickly, 'too quickly' thought Kisara, entered inside her guard while she was still airborne and pushed his weight against her.

Unbalanced, she managed to twist herself and give another kick, this one halfhearted compared with her usual attacks. Of course such attack would never do anything and was promptly dodged, but it gave the opportunity for her to regain her balance and position herself again.

She continued her assault with even more kicks, a frontal kick followed by a spinning back kick that was chained to triple fast and powerful kicks, which he dodged the whole ordeal by twisting himself and entering her guard to only slightly make the attacks miss, not even bothering to use his hands.

She tried flying kicks and even ventured a sweep kick, which he jumped so graciously and so quickly someone could almost believe he simply stepped over her furious attack with the same causality someone climbed a stair.

"You're quite winded." The stranger said in a voice full of amusement. "Why don't you hear what I have to say now? There is no need to continue this anymore." He only managed to say that before dodging another attack.

"Shut up! I'm trying to beat your name out of you like you wanted, bastard!" She told him before preparing herself for another assault.

"Come on", he said while dodging the next assault, "I was just joking. Can't we talk like civilized people?" His answer was yet another flying kick.

He stopped dodging and decided it was time to get her attention and end this quickly. Kisara attacked again when she saw an unbelievable sight: he blocked her attack with only his finger!

She continued a few more times just to be blocked by the same finger, when suddenly she felt a sharp pain in her stomach. Even while she was in more pain than she ever felt before, she couldn't help but ponder in an almost detached manner her current predicament.

'I'm flying... I'm really flying. I never knew it would be possible to fly with a k...'

But she was interrupted from her thoughts when she crashed violently on the fence outside the hideout. She flew neatly through the open window, lucky for her it was big enough and without glass, good thing the room was in the ground level otherwise she would very well have died.

'I-it hurts! D-damn it, it fucking hurts!'

"Now that we both know I'm much stronger than you, care to listen to me?"

She only had enough strength to lift her head to see her assailant crouching in front of her, and she managed to distinguish his azure eyes before passing out.

* * *

><p>"Are you feeling better now?" Asked a familiar, unknown voice.<p>

Kisara slowly opened her eyes, still feeling some pain on her stomach and being slightly dizzy. 'But it doesn't hurt as much as before', she thought while inspecting her abdomen and sighing in relief at the cooling sensation of the icepack. 'Where did he got this anyway?'

"Now that you are awake, can I tell you what I am doing here?" He only got a nod and a groan in response, but that was more than enough. "First, I want to apologize for early. I guess I was a little overboard", he said while scratching the back of his head with a sheepish grin, receiving only a snort in return, "second, what I wanted to talk with you is to give you a proposition".

She perked at that. Considering the man standing before her could have simply steamrolled her from the very beginning and in fact apologized after knocking her out cold meant he wasn't exactly hostile. Besides he knew her by name and her position on Ragnarok, if he really wanted to cause any harm there where many opportunities to ambush her.

"I'm listening", she said with only a hint of suspicion on her voice.

"I know you are a very driven and motivated person, strong willed and not shy from hard work. What I want to propose is to give you the means to become truly strong. Tell me, what do you gain lingering on this 'gang', putting a strong front and bullying the weak?" The lights where turned on already, but she still couldn't see his face properly because of the lingering dizziness, however she could feel his hard stare and she couldn't help but shudder.

"You may think fighting against those punks are a mean to prove your strength and worth, but all you're doing is wasting your time. Fighting multiple opponents that don't even know how to throw a punch without telling the world about it? If you want stamina training just take up running." The man started passing in front of her, his voice raising a bit with each step he took.

"What do you gain by bossing around kids that don't even know the true meaning of strength? What do you gain by associating with them anyway? They don't really like you, trust you or even respect you."

She was about to protest but was cut off by his statement. "They do fear and envy your strength, but don't think even for a second they will stand for you if things doesn't go your way."

She tried to object saying they were her comrades, but that wasn't exactly true. Those under her simply didn't had the nerve to rebel against her, and those that did she simply beat them to a pulp. There was also Freya, her former division chief and trainer which she respects and admires, but their relationship was currently strained after leaving her division and now they barely talk anymore.

In essence, she was alone when it mattered most. Any sign of weakness and she would be tossed aside, her position stripped from her and possibly earning a few beatings from those that once feared her, or worse, since Ragnarok was big enough and only cared for strength.

"What I want to propose is to teach you what true strength is, how to become strong enough to protect what is precious to you. I don't plan to teach you martial arts, I plan to give you a new way of life as my apprentice".

Kisara was speechless. She couldn't believe this guy would come, beat her up and them offer an apprenticeship on whenever he knows, it simply didn't made sense.

"Why me out of all people?" She managed to say in a more clear voice, the pain fading much quicker than she thought possible. The man in front of her probably expected that question and didn't missed a beat.

"I watched you and other possible candidates for a few days already, a few from your own gang such as Hermit, Thor, Siegfried and I plan to add some others after I give them a formal interview". All of them are senior members of Ragnarok and part of the high ranked Fists, 'he probably already gave them this proposal' Kisara thought bitterly.

"There are others I plan to approach later from a different group, but so far you where the only one I thought was ready."

"W-what? How come, all of them are stronger than me. They should be much better candidates to be your apprentice."

"Stronger? Probably, but they don't really fit the profiles. Thor is too single-minded into proving that a 'style' is stronger than others and may misinterpret my proposal; Hermit is still bitter with whatever happened to him and I'm not confident enough to help him get past it for the moment", Kisara noted there was a hint of sadness in his voice when he admitted that, "while Siegfried... to be honest I'm not ready for him."

Kisara gave the man a sympathetic nod, knowing full well after two meetings with him how much that weirdo creeped her out, not that she ever told anybody or showed in front of others.

"As for the others they either lack something, are too indecisive, would refuse for their own personal reasons or are already at high enough developed stage it would do more harm than good to teach them something entirely new from scratch. You on the other hand is at the right point of development, still have more than enough room to mature with the proper incentive and help, and have the right mentality to withstand the training."

He turned to her again and she could feel his smile.

"Simply put, you're the perfect candidate for my first personal apprentice."

She was yet again speechless with her mouth hanging agape at this stranger admission. Out of all people he probably had in mind she was the best candidate? Even among the likes of Hermit? Even more shocking, a girl?

"You don't really need to answer me right now. Here, take this." He took a card from his coat under pocket. "When you decide, please contact me for us to make the proper arrangements. I will be waiting for you."

He turned to leave but Kisara had to stop him. "Wait! You didn't told me your name."

The man stopped for a second and Kisara saw some words written in red on the back of his coat, though her vision was still a bit blurred, and he had some short of hat hanging on his back she didn't noticed before. "Call me Rikudō Sennin for now. Once you become my apprentice and we are more comfortable around each other I will tell you more of my secrets."

He paused once more, and without turning added. "Take care when going back home since you're still injured. I hear there is some strange things happening in this city lately".

She didn't even had the chance to say anything before a gust of wind almost blew her hat off, and when she turned again to see him, there were only a few leaves where he was standing.

* * *

><p>"Valkyrie, are you listening?"<p>

She refocused her mind into the meeting right now. A few days have passed since the meeting with the Rikudō Sennin and the First Fist called a meeting with the strongest members.

It was rare for the leader Odin to show himself to talk with the others and plan their next course of action. Most of the planning where handled to Loki with the grudgingly approval of Freya and an acknowledgement of Hermit, since the second in command Berserker legendary lack of interest into everything he don't believe is 'fun' didn't spoke well of his leadership abilities. Today however was an exception to both of those rules.

"Yeah, I'm listening."

Not really bothering much, Odin continued. "Continuing, this hypothetical new faction is to be treated with the utmost caution. Though I suspect they won't be bothering us, the fact they are targeting the bigger crime bosses and stripping them of everything in the span of less than twenty four hours without leaving any evidence is worrying. Even the Sage Fist don't have any idea on what is happening or who is behind all this."

Lately various suspicious cases of crime lords being attacked in a day and most of their money simply disappearing from sight, piles upon upon piles of evidence being discovered to the point of witness being completely unnecessary, and the death of a few higher profile freelancing criminals have been causing a turmoil on the underworld.

Politicians that backed the criminals were brought down almost as fast as their crime partners, and the first confirmed target of this series of evens was brutally murdered, though later police found out it was because everyone on the underworld thought the first victim was an informant to the police.

Both police and the government have denied any involvement on those actions, and there was a rumor a single person was responsible for all this, something clearly impossible on the minds of everyone, but at this point everyone agreed it was a single group that was acting.

"Who cares," barked Berserker, "that have nothing to do with us here. I'm more interested into my rematch against you."

"I doubt politics and white collar criminals getting their just deserts would concern you of all people, Berserker. However I'm making it clear to anyone that could be curious enough to find them, either to test their strength or for mere morbid fascination, to lay off and not Ragnarok in this." He takes a glance at both Berserker and Loki before resuming the meeting. "Now, if nobody have anything else..."

"Actually, I have a question. When the Sage Fist will agree to train another disciple?"

Everybody turned to Kisara before Odin answered. "When he decides any of you are ready. I thought we already established that issue before?"

"But what means to be ready? Do we need to go on blindly until one of us luck out? Can't he at least clarify that for us so there is something to look forward to?"

There was a dangerous glint in Odin eyes for a moment before he answered.

"Without patience it will be impossible to be ready."

Kisara knew a dismissal when she saw one, and that didn't helped her current state of mind.

* * *

><p>"Valkyrie."<p>

A familiar voice called Kisara while she waited for the bus. After finally deciding to accept the proposal of the so called 'Sage of the Six Paths' he gave his address and asked her to pack her things.

She was extremely suspicious at first until he showed up at her house later to talk with her parents on her new living arrangements.

Now that she could take a good look at him he didn't appeared all that special: blond spiky hair and a short boxed beard, deep azure eyes in a foxy eye shape that made it impossible to dismiss his Asian heritage, but his most intriguing feature where his six whisker like birthmarks on his cheeks, which he quite vocally stressed where not tattoos. He was dressed casually in an orange and black jacket with a black shirt under and black cargo pants, though the black sandals where a bit out of place.

On second thought he did looked quite special, according to Kisara's mother at least, much to the blond amusement.

Presenting himself as Rikudō, he explained that Kisara will be living with him for an unspecified amount of time and would continue her education with him, the approval of the school already in his possession.

The history was that she would be in an apprenticeship with him after being selected over several possible candidates. To Kisara surprise her parents accepted it at face value and gave them their permission, but only after confirming with the school principal the validity of the document in the man hands.

She thought it was a nice lie to her parents until he told her he was quite serious to continue her studies even while training with him, which was quite shocking for her.

It's not like she bothered with her studies much other than dropping it would maker her parents suspicious of her activities, when they were around at any rate, but what school and grades had anything to do with martial arts anyway?

_"I told you I'm not going to teach you martial arts, remember? I'm going to teach you a new way of life, and you have to be smart enough to understand information is the key to win any battle. Not only that but even if you are a tactical genius the lack of planning will turn something relatively simple to incredibly complicated, and even if you lack power to defeat an opponent through power alone with enough planning and strategy you can bridge that gap._

_I had to learn the hard way the importance of studies and reading when I was younger, so I just want to be sure you won't make the same mistake as I did. If you still have doubts, think about it as a form to train your mind and patience. Baa-chan knows how much I need that."_

She didn't knew what to make of him. Why would he have so much trouble to make sure her education is up to speed? Apparently he was talking from experience, hard to believe from the way he acted. Maybe she will see that part of him later?

In a sense it was kind of touching since it showed some form of concern for her without being too pushy. The fact he promised to work her to the ground every day made sure she would like the study sessions if only for the fact to be able to sit down and catch her breath for longer periods of time.

In the end it was a promising situation for her and her future master was friendly enough that maybe in the future they could even be friends, violent first impressions aside. It was so long since she had hopes to find again someone that could help her or at least partially understand her.

Like the person who called her right now.

"Hello Freya-sama".

Her former leader, and she almost dared to say friend, was standing in front of her with her normal stoic, impassive gaze upon Kisara.

"Are you going to really leave?"

"Yeah, I found out the perfect place to train and even managed to convince my parents so they won't do something stupid like calling the police."

"That's good."

There was an awkward silence between them. 'I'm getting a lot of those lately', thought Kisara. After a few minutes her bus entered into view, and soon she was embarking with a polite good bye when she was stopped again.

"Are you going to run away again?" Freya asked casually, stopping her former subordinate on her tracks. "When you left my ranks I thought you were running, but you managed to amass your own followers and climb again to a respectable position, eventually rising to be equal. Now you are leaving your comrades, your position and everything you worked for. Why?"

Kisara turned to Freya and gave her own level stare back at her before snorting.

_"Wimp, Dairy Cow."_

_Kenichi flinched at the politely angry face Miyu was giving to Kisara, which was completely unapologetic. The fact the person who attacked them now wanted to talk on neutral ground was suspicious but not unwelcome, so they found themselves inside a family restaurant._

_Trying to diffuse the situation before it got out of hand Kenichi coughed to catch their attention, gathering all courage he could, prompting the two girls to snap their heads in his direction, their hard stares still present._

_"W-what did y-you wanted with us, Kisara-san?"_

_"With you? Nothing. That's the whole point of coming here, to inform you and her that from now on there will be no one coming after you under my orders. Tell the two stooges they are officially free from service, but the third one may still be upset and seek revenge."_

_Kenichi was almost crying rivers of joy and Miyu was optimistic on this situation, but on an intellectual level it didn't made sense for her to turn a new leaf this quickly._

_"Well, I'm glad you saw the error of your actions", that remark caused Kisara to grip the fork of from the cake plate she ordered slightly stronger, and either Miyu ignored it or was oblivious to the effect she was having on her, "maybe now we can be friends!"_

_"I'm actually glad you stopped doing something so dangerous. Leading a gang isn't something a girl should do". Kenichi added his two cents without realizing he just put more fuel to the fire. Then again, how could he know about Kisara dislike of people that underestimate women or that she hated to have her errors rubbed on her face?_

_"Now listen here you two", said the former delinquent leader with the calmest voice she could since it would do no good to trash the store, after all she liked the service there. "I don't like either of you. I sure as hell don't want to become friends with you, and there is nothing I want more than to use your wimp face to clear the asphalt!" She delivered the last part almost yelling, hitting the table with her fist and gaining a bit of attention from the other patrons._

_She took a few breaths before calming herself. "I'm telling you two this because I don't want to be blamed if either of you get attacked again. I will still defeat you two, I just don't have time to be playing around anymore."_

_Leaving her money she turned to leave while both Kenichi and Miyu stayed, not really understanding what happened._

"What good staying there will be? I came with the promise to train under the Great Sage Fist but nothing came from it, and with the exception of the three stooges nobody really respected me on my own group. Some of them didn't even had the courtesy of fearing my abilities, and when I disbanded the group I had to beat at least half of them to a bloody pulp just to not give them any ideas."

Noticing the driver was getting annoyed she turned back, giving a last glance towards her once leader.

"I want to become strong on my own way, Freya-sama. I hoped at least you could understand that."

That was the last thing Freya heard from Valkyrie for a long time.

* * *

><p>After getting off the bus, it was a long walk until she found a road between the forest, eventually leading to a set of stairs on the hill. While climbing, she thought about her life up until now.<p>

The incident were her pet cat sacrificed itself for her, and the follow up vow to never be that helpless again. A few years later she started practicing Taekwondo and trained hard every day, always doing her best to improve until that day when she defeated some senior fighter and he made the worst excuse in order to not lose face: 'she was a girl, it was obvious I let her win'.

Up until then it was all right for her to simply get strong on her own. She didn't started to fight in order to win competitions or things like that, but once she invested so much time and effort, to simply have her accomplishments dismissed like that was both infuriating and heartbreaking for her.

That was the day she started to wish for acknowledgement, and from there things went further and further from her original goal. Proving she was good enough for the person she respected, trying to make a group as large and as feared as hers, rising the ranks until she was her equal, hope to gain training from a legendary martial arts master.

It was with those thoughts she found herself at the top of the stairs, in front of a big wooden gate and her future master standing in front of her waiting.

"Right on time", he told her with a big smile, dispersing part of her tension before his face changed to a solemn look.

"Kisara, from this day on you will enter a different world. The training will be hard, unforgiving and will challenge you not only physically, but both mentally and spiritually. What you once took for granted will be stripped from you, and what you once believed as truth might prove to be a lie. You will lose the morals you have today, and one day you will look back to this moment and don't recognize the girl that entered those doors. Knowing this, do you wish to become my apprentice?"

He said his speech with a straight face, not once faltering. Where is that laid back man who proposed to be her master? Changing the perception of reality, her morals? This is much more serious than she thought before!

Yet even then she knew something like that was expected. Not once he told her he would teach her 'a style', 'techniques' or even 'tactics'. He wanted to teach her his entire way of life, to pass his secrets, knowledge and wisdom.

Her.

Not somebody else, not some other boy. Her, a girl.

"Yes", she told him in a low, yet firm voice. "I want to become strong under your tutelage, and will accept any training imposed upon me. I will accept and embrace any way of life that will come with your guidance without hesitation, so please", she gave him a respectful bowing, "accept me as your apprentice."

She stayed like that for a few seconds making her nervous. Wasn't that a mere formality? Or was he still giving her a way out of this? If so, what exactly he planned to teach her that would force him to give so many chances for her to change her mind? Either way, Kisara decided to see it through the end.

After a few more seconds she felt a pair of gentle but firm hands on her shoulders, rising her head to stare on his eyes once more, reminding her of the day she meet this man for the first time.

"Welcome to the world of Shinobi, Kisara."


	2. New World: Tests Before Training

_Author Notes:_

_I finally completed a Second chapter! This is clearly a good thing, right?_

_At the moment this isn't fully beta tested, but I plan to re-update as soon as my beta gives me the ok._

_As for the chapters, this is the last one that will have a more direct influence from the 'Naruto:Path of the Rikudo Sennin'. Maybe there will be something about the results of Kisara training, or how our favorite hyperactive ninja appeared on Kenichi's world, but even them it will have my own spin into it._

_*Spoilers*_

_I think some will believe Kisara overreacted too much, and that was pretty much right. She was willing to do what he asked even if it sounded strange, but she have some prejudice on weapon use due to how she associate those that learn and use it. _

_In a sense it is the same as Kenichi prejudice in essence, since he could take Shigure's training and simply walk around unarmed if he ever feared to take things too far, or he could simply remember that she isn't Apachai and would be the least person on Ryozanpaku to send him to the hospital or a body bag, which Apachai almost did several times in the past. _

_In Kisara case it is more an association with weakness and helplessness to use a weapon, along a few other things. There is a certain hypocrisy on it even on canon material, since she is willing to use high heels on her boots to give herself some extra advantage._

_As for Renka, I think she got really smitten by Kenichi when he went out of his way to help her, but my memories on that is still a little vague. I do know she didn't had a high opinion of him initially.  
><em>

_*End Spoilers*_

_Sorry for the almost/complete cliffhanger, but I will try to not abuse of this power in the future. Please review and tell me your opinions about the story. Thanks for reading._

_I don't own anything except original characters, but using them on works of other people kind of invalidate the point.  
><em>

* * *

><p>At first Kisara hadn't understood what he meant.<p>

Was he going to teach her how to be a ninja? He certainly didn't looked the part, but then again she only knew the term from reading manga and watching movies. She was also somewhat aware of the fact that various schools that taught ninjutsu still existed, mostly because she read it in a sports magazine.

The first one that sprang on her mind was the Bujinkan founded in 1978 by Masaaki Hatsumi. Though the details of the style slipped her mind, it dealt with a vast array of skills and more than one martial arts tradition. While it isn't an 'invitation only' type of martial arts, such as certain sword traditions or more conservative family styles, it wasn't exactly easy to find. Which was why she had originally settled on the more mainstream Taekwondo.

Of course, the fact it had cool looking ground kicks and flying kicks played a minor role in deciding her chosen style.

Though it appeared to be genuine, she was skeptical on the fighting potential. Sure, the ninjas of the past often had the job done, but mostly by taking the coward's way and striking from the shadows or other underhanded methods. Even if effective in it's own way, she doubted a ninja could take an equally dedicated martial artist in an honest fight.

However, she made sure to stay silent. After all, she did agree to be trained by him and embrace his teachings. She could always voice her concerns later.

"I assure you, the shinobi training is more than enough to handle any conventional martial art," said her master, startling her.

"W-what? How did you-?" But before she could finish, he let out a laughter, stopping their walk towards the inner walls.

The entrance had an outer wall covering the hill and surrounding the temple, a very large tract of land if the endless wall was any indication, while the place she entered had a small house used as a checkpoint to meet with outsiders and visitors. They still had to walk a bit more before reaching the innermost buildings behind a second set of walls, much bigger than the outside ones according to Rikudō, thus their walk and subsequent stop.

"It's not funny!" Huffed the new apprentice while the master tried to recompose himself.

"Heh, sorry. I didn't mean to laugh, but you really need to work on mastering your emotions. You reacted the same way I would've a few years back. It was so nostalgic, I couldn't hold myself". He told her while taking a small glance backwards, smirking at the sight of her blush, eventually resuming the walk.

"What you know about shinobi is tarnished by the movies. By what I could see most of the ninja in them were nothing more than Genin, the lowest rank for a shinobi, and they are dirt cheap to hire. That's why in movies where a ninja is the protagonist or last villain he is much stronger, because he is a Jounin, the elite." He took another glance to make sure she was still following him and listening, finding himself pleased by her concentration.

"The closest thing on this day and age for you to compare would be Commandos, specialized units for hit-and-run tactics or raids, among other things, combined with Spy training."

They were approaching the wall and Kisara could see the large 'gate' written in hiragana with it's letters painted in red, taking more time than she expected. But then again she wasn't expecting a wall almost as tall as the trees, however she didn't had the time to stare at it since the inside was much more interesting.

It wasn't just a building or a temple, but a compound of buildings in a mix of traditional shinto architecture and modern construction. The biggest and most traditional looking building was the sleeping quarters, while the others surrounding the immediate vicinity had varying degrees of completion.

The main road split into three, with the first continuing along the initial road and arriving on the complex, while the other two went to opposite directions on the side. The right wing had a sign which read 'training grounds one through twenty one', and the left wing had a sign for 'rural area', whatever that meant.

"Right now, only the main building is finished, which is where we will sleep while in the urban area. The infirmary and armory are coming along nicely as well, though the rest I still need to check some parts before continuing." Her master said when he noticed she was staring wide eyed at everything, not for the first time wondering what kind of deal she had gotten herself into.

"Since when was this... What is all this?" Asked Kisara, losing part of her eloquence while trying to describe her temporary home. '_Wasn__'__t__ this__ supposed__ to __be__ a __temple__? __This __looks __more __like __a __military __base __with __how __complex__ it __is__._'

"Two weeks and some days ago, I believe. Though most of the work was to create this clearing and make the training grounds." Because he again said such things with a perfectly straight face, it was difficult to disbelieve immediately.

"You mean all this was constructed in less than three weeks? How is that even possible?"

"You can do wonders with at least three thousand pairs of hands working at the same time," he said while leading a mystified Kisara. "Now, let me show you your room before it gets too late. We have a lot to do today and I want to start before breakfast."

* * *

><p>At another location inside the city, in a place called Ryōzanpaku, where some of the strongest martial arts masters gathered, the residents were having a typical morning with it's typical background noise.<p>

"Ouch! Once mor- argh!"

"I think that's enough sparring with Miu for now, Kenichi," a deep and smooth voice called. If someone had to compare with something, it would be 'high class', just as the owner of the voice Akisame Koetsuji. "Take a break for now. You too, Miu."

She nodded before going back to change and hang the remaining of laundry, while Kenichi remained on the ground panting.

"Is it finally over master?" he asked when he finally tried to stand.

Kenichi had gone a long way since his first day, increasing his stamina, power, flexibility, and reflexes to the point of being considered a veteran athlete with only a few more years of experience.

Compared to his initial physical condition, he had been practically reborn as a new person, though his masters would never say it to his face. He still had a hobbyist view on this life style and completely underestimated how much he could improve. Let alone the amount of effort necessary to improve and break past normal human levels.

That, and he had a low learning curve for certain facts of life.

Like this example, a certain universal law called 'Don't Tempt Fate'.

In response of his challenge, a huge sound not unlike thunder, but were in fact merely two focus mitts hitting each other, answered with the always followed dreaded sound.

"Apa."

Akisame caught him by the collar of his white keikogi, also called dōgi, but he had to give it to the boy: when it came to certain things, his disciple's reflexes and reaction speed where already at master level. Too bad it was directed at bad habits.

"M-master, I-I b-better prepare f-for school. Miu-san must have f-forgotten, so-so..."

"Apa!" said Apachai, the Death God of Underworld Muai Thai, with horror in his eyes. "Kenichi can't be late for school! Maybe we can train later." He said the last part in a sad tone, and Kenichi felt he just kicked a puppy, if said puppy had a height of around two meters (or six feet seven inches) and was built with muscles over muscles, not counting the fact said puppy could kill him several times over with just his little finger.

Yes, Kenichi wasn't the least bit sorry for kicking that particular puppy.

"Aha ha ha ha!" Akisame gave a laugh that was not entirely forced, honestly amused by his disciple's tenacity. "Don't worry, Apachai. Starting from April of 2002, also know as Heisei era year 14, which is surprisingly this year, officially there is no school at Saturday in Japan. Kenichi must have forgotten that."

While Kenichi was being dragged of by both Apachai and Shigure, the resident Genius Weapon Master, Akisame tried to settle himself to make yet another Buddha statue when the telephone rang. Since Miu was still occupied with chores, he resigned himself to delay again his art.

"Ryōzanpaku, Akisame Koetsuji speaking. Hello? ...Oh, it's been a while..."

Meanwhile, Kenichi was doing his best to stay alive, running more than dodging when training with Apachai, and each 'APA!' was like the angry cry of a fierce god of war, which was a fitting description.

"... No, not yet. Maybe on the evening?"

"APA!" Kenichi dodged the last punch out of sheer dumb luck, but sadly it was only a distraction for the main attack.

"... Really?" Akisame said while trying to ignore the noise, not really succeeding. "That's wonderful. I will..."

"A~PA PA PA PA PA PA PA PA PA PA PA PA PA PA PA! A~PA!"

"GYYYYAAAAHHH!"

The Philosophical Master sighed once. "Apachai, could you please train more quietly? I'm on the phone here."

Properly reprimanded, Apachai nodded before smiling back at Kenichi. Him, taking that as a sign, sent his silent thanks to his other master. Surely now he wouldn't get as beat up as before, since without the shouts, Apachai won't put too much power in his attacks. Right?

"!"

"GYYYYAAAAHHH!"

"Not you too, Kenichi. I'm on the phone here, be more considerate."

* * *

><p>Kisara was still tired from the 'warm up'.<p>

It had been some time since she settled down and changed her attire to something more durable. At the time she was using a black dōgi with a mesh shirt underneath, which strangely fit quite nicely to her body, and a pair of black sandals of the same type her master was wearing.

When she heard that they were going easy today to test her, she had first thought that it would actually be easy. When they started the warm up, a hundred repetitions of some easy calisthenics exercises and a few laps on the inner course, she thought there wasn't anything special on that test. Now she was cursing herself for tempting fate like that.

The first order of business was for her to run at top speed for as long as she could, at least three laps on the outer course of training ground one. It was a very long running course, special emphasis on _long_, with obstacles ranging from trees, rocks, shifts in the elevation, depressions and even small bodies of water she had to either jump over or run through in ankle deep water.

After about an hour, she managed to end the three laps only to be prompted to do some cool down exercises and be set up to run again on the inner course, only this time she had to keep running at top speed 'until I say so'.

She was released from her training after half an hour, just to do another set of cool down exercises and going back for breakfast. She was half expecting just something simple, maybe bread and milk or even some fruit, however she saw a small feast waiting her.

It was a large table with a full course Japanese meal with rice, fried eggs, fish, pickles of various vegetables and flesh ones, miso soup, a few varieties of fruits to pick up as desert, and a bottle of milk 'for the bones'. Suffice to say there weren't any left overs, even if she wasn't used to eat this much, and she thought her energy had returned completely.

So far she was ready to continue with whatever training he could throw, but the next thing he had planned was quite surreal for her.

"Cat's cradle," Kisara asked while staring at the string in her master's hand.

"Yes," he said either oblivious to his apprentice's tone or simply not caring. "You do know how to play, right?"

"Of course I do," she said slowly, trying once more to put some sense into this situation. "What does that have to do with our training?"

"For the next hour we are going to play it, of course," he didn't miss a beat, answering with that same tone of voice, slightly amused by his apprentice's skepticism.

Not that she didn't liked the rest, and she understood the need to do at least something instead of lazing around, but playing a kid's game?

* * *

><p>It was already noon when Kenichi stopped his training with Ma Kensei on the basic movements of his punching technique and the required endurance and strength training. Not because the master wanted to call it a day or another master would take his turn, but because today there was a special surprise guest coming and all residents of Ryōzanpaku were going to greet him.<p>

"A friend of the Elder? Do you have any idea on who he is, Akisame-shishou?"

Akisame hummed while stroking his mustache, giving only a smirk after taking a quick glance to Kensei. "You will see soon enough, Kenichi. And speaking of him, he should be arriving now."

As if on cue, the front gate opened revealing a short, bald man with a long beard and mustache wearing traditional Chinese clothes and a small, round sunglass. Fortunately for some and unfortunately for others, namely a certain Ma Kensei, he was obscured by a rather tall girl, for Japanese standards.

She had her black hair in a strange type of twin short pigtails that went upward. Wearing a body hugging cheongsam, also know as qípáo, with a skirt way too short to be called decent, and her body was at least as well endowed and perfectly proportioned as Miu,'s was if not even more so. Not only that, but Kenichi could say with certainty she had a cute face that would make many boys and even grown man droll at her on sight.

Unfortunately that beauty was tarnished by the look of pure rage and outrage on her face, which wasn't directed at Kenichi for once.

"Where are you, father! I came here to drag you back home!"

While Kenichi was both awed by her melodic voice and trying to suppress his thoughts with oaths of loyalties to Miu's angelic form, he didn't noticed the spot previously occupied by Kensei had a sign written 'went fishing'. He was almost outside of reach when he bumped into Fūrinji Hayato, the Invincible Superman of Ryōzanpaku, and was stopped in his tracks.

"Hi, Renka-chan," meekly said Kensei while internally cursing the Elder.

"I didn't came for a simple 'hi,' father!" She said while stomping towards the shorter man. "I'm going to drag you back to-"

"That's enough, Renka-chan. If I knew you would cause this much trouble, I should have left you at the restaurant! I thought you wanted to talk with the father you haven't seen for some time."

The girl flinched once, before meekly muttering a soft, "Sorry, grand-uncle."

Soon after the short ordeal, everyone was at the table enjoying tea and some snacks, with the two guests formally introducing themselves. The older man was called Ma Ryou but he is mostly know as Hakubi, Kensei uncle, master of a variety of Chinese martial arts and considered Yokohama Chinatown most knowledgeable person.

Coming with him was Ma Renka, and as both the name and her early outburst suggests, she was Ma Kensei daughter who was living with her grand-uncle. In the mind of Kenichi he was still in state of mild shock, not really believing someone like Kensei could have procreated of all things, let alone have three children and a wife back at China.

Of course, in order to put his disciple in his place Kensei had to show a special photo of him in his youth surrounded by beautiful women. Kenichi tried very hard to pretend it wasn't his master on the photo, reasoning that maybe he was showing a younger sibling instead of him, but on closer inspection he could see the more mature face reflected back on the picture.

It was only his short hair, and very well hidden bald head, with weird mustache that made him look so differently. Hell, if he managed to maintain even part of his old looks or at least show his age more graciously he would still be 'scoring the ladies', but them again he had to restrain part of his perverted nature. He was still short in both photo and reality, though.

But on top of everything he was also the leader of a martial arts organization with over a thousand students! According to him his situation is 'complicated' and prevented his return back at home, however according to Renka he just wanted to get out of a tough job and enjoy his rediscovered bachelor freedom.

Even if Kenichi would always respect his master and be willing to place both his life and future on the man's hand, he knew deep down there were at least fifty-fifty chance for the latter reason to be more accurate.

Trying to restore what was left of his dignity, he allowed himself to talk.

"So uncle, not that I don't appreciate the visit, but why are you here with Renka-chan no less? Something happened?"

Hakubi set aside his tea for a moment and taking off his sunglasses in order to wipe them out, building enough tension that everyone stopped talking, and with a dramatic light on his glasses he started.

"I wanted to discuss something serious with my nephew, and it is dire enough to tell my great-niece, so I decided to visit. Now, what do you know about the recent cases of crime lords being targeted?" He asked in all seriousness, earning a frown from the other masters and a confused glance from the two teenagers from Ryōzanpaku. Surprisingly it was Sasaki Chio, the Hundred Dan Brawler, who answered first.

"Apparently there is a group that started to target some crime lords in the area, stripping them of their power, influence, money and even political backing. There is more, but that's the gist of it." He downed down his beer before continuing once again. "Maybe you came here to tell us more about it?"

He nodded before continuing. "If you remember correctly, the first case happened on Yokohama. It was one of the strongest crime lords of Chinatown that was put out, and naturally I would want to know who managed to bring him down with such brutal efficiency."

He looked from behind his sunglasses directly at the Elder with eyes full of suspicion, and in return the Elder simply raised an eyebrow at this man antics. Hakubi nodded once before sighing and taking a sip of his tea.

"After doing some private investigation by myself I managed to amass some information about this case. What I found out was both curious and distressing." The three teenagers gulped as they heard that. Both Kenichi and Miu because they had an ominous feeling, while Renka never her grand-uncle this serious.

"Apparently the downfall of Chinatown most fearsome crime boss was due to the works of a single young man, I would guess between your disciple age or maybe a year or two older. He was blond with light blue eyes, yet his eyes shape speak of clear Asiatic ancestry. Average height and sleek build, and if some rumors are accurate, 'able to break a wall like it is made of wet tissue'."

Silence fell on the house, all silent mutterings stopping with everyone focused on Hakubi. Even Kensei and Shigure stopped their usual battle between camera and knife under the table, and after a while Akisame was the first one to speak again.

"So we are dealing with a Master Class Martial Artist at around Kenichi age? It's impressive to say the least." He said in a thoughtful manner while sizing up his disciple, a strange glint appearing on his eyes.

"It is worse than a Martial Artist", Hakubi interrupted Akisame musings. "He is a professional. The problem with the police entering the domains of those people aside, there isn't any clues to who this man is. The few witness I approached barely saw him, and I had to make this picture of him out of few clues from various different sources."

"Not only that but the work itself doesn't have any obvious flaws to it, and even if some clues were discovered only the police would have access to them. Besides, various other activities where reported with the same Modus Operandi. Well, with the exception of the assassination of Kei Retsumin."

"Assassination?" This time it was the Elder who spoke first, which earned a nod from Hakubi.

"Apparently he was hired as the bodyguard of the first victim of this unknown martial artist. A few days later of his downfall, the police arrived at an hotel room where they found Kei corpse already at a good decomposition state. Without proof to the contrary, officially he committed suicide by cutting his throat with a kitchen knife, hitting the carotid artery on the neck and bleeding out in a matter of seconds. But there is no way that man committed suicide."

Kenichi shivered at that. It must be a very painful way to die, even it is rather quick, though he did wanted to ask why Hakubi was so sure this Kei would never kill himself, or how he came up with that much information, really. Once again the Elder beat him to it.

"Of course Kei Retsumin, The Human Calamity, committing suicide is as ridiculous as me ever losing a battle!" He said the last part with a hint with humor, trying to lighten the mood a bit but failing spectacularly. However finally Kenichi managed to ask something, though it was quite low on his list of priorities.

"Human Calamity?"

"Yes. He got that nickname on his organization since there are rumors he killed more people than any plague ever has. Once when tasked to kill a man in a village, he simply killed everyone instead of searching for his target."

Kenichi was both speechless and ready to pass out. This was too much over his head! Why his masters where talking about such dangerous person who could kill this 'Human Calamity' and make it look like suicide and get away with it?

"Well, there is only one thing left to do." Said the Elder, grabbing everyone attention. "We will leave things to the police for now!" Kenichi used his strength to both avoid to plant his head on the table and to cry rivers of joy, knowing that whatever this murderous psychopath is doing he is on the opposite direction, far, very far way from it.

"As strong as we are, without information we can't really move, and when the police finds something they will surely need help." To Kenichi horror all of his masters nodded in agreement before Akisame looked at him again.

"Well Kenichi, since the world have become this dangerous I guess we have to step things up don't you think? You better be prepared since this isn't going to be as easy as before."

Before Akisame could end his speech, only three things went through Kenichi mind.

'Before? Easy? MORE?'

Kensei was very proud of his disciple when he found out that instead of his disciple on the usual seat, there were only his 'went fishing' card.

Children those days grow up so fast.

* * *

><p>It was nearing the night, and Kisara was really tired from today's activities, both physically and mentally speaking.<p>

After the game of cat's cradle she noticed he was taking notes on a clipboard, which he refused to show her, and set up to the next assignment on his battery of tests.

The physical ones where the easiest by simply doing her best at whatever was asked, be it running, jumping or even swimming. The problem came with other subjects that were quite alien to her.

First she had to build a trap she knew, which was absolutely none. After that she had to make one trap on the spot with whatever he had stored in a box, and she reluctantly did it. The result was a simple tripwire trap almost hidden in the bushes.

Another frustrating hour trying to figure out how much she knew about basic survival, which amounted to only common sense concerns: water, food, protection. Nothing on how to actually obtain any of that on the wild or which tools to bring aside from the most obvious.

Then it came the meditation, where she had to stay still for a whole hour trying to 'focus her mind'. He didn't told her more than that since it was to test her ability to meditate, but in the end she somehow managed to at least stay in the same place without getting too much irritated. It was the second most frustrating hour she had since arriving there.

However that palled in comparison with the next assignment.

"_Why__ do __I__ need __to __do __this__?" __She __asked__, __looking __at __the __targets __in__ front __of __her __and__ the __shuriken__ and __kunai __on __the __table__._

"_I __want __to __see __both __your __aim __and __if __you __can __make __it __stick __to __the __target __correctly__." __He __said __patiently__, __but __his __eyes __narrowed __slightly __at __her __answer__._

"_Well__, __I__ don__'__t __need__ to__ use__ it__." __She__ continued __stubbornly__. "__I__'__m __already __confident __enough __with __my __hand__-__to__-__hand __ability __for __me __to __use __weapons__."_

"_Enough __to __take __on __me__?" __He __snapped __at __her__, __which __she __flinched__ a __little __but __didn__'__t __relented__._

"_I __don__'__t __need__ weapons __to __be__ a __good__ fighter__!" __She __almost __yelled __at __him__, __forgetting __for__ a __moment__ he __could __literally __send __her __flying __with __a __kick__. "__I __can __do __more __than __enough __just __with __my __own __strength__! __I __just __need __training __to __be __up __to __par __with __you__", __and __at __that __moment __her __thought __process __halted__, __and __took __an __entirely __different__ direction__._

"_Are __you __telling __me __I __won__'__t __ever __be __able __to__ defeat __you __unless __I __take __up __arms__?"_

"_I__ never __said __that__!" __He __yelled __back __in __annoyance__. "__All __I __want __to __know __is __your __aim__ and __which __shuriken __types __you __can __stick __to__ the __target__! __Why __is __that __so __difficult __to __do __anyway__?"_

_Unfortunately__ that __was __a__ sore __spot __for __her__. "__I __will __never __use __a __weapon __on __my __life__, __so __I __don__'__t __need__ to __know __how__ to __use __it__!" __She __yelled__, __kicking __the __small __weapons __rack __to __the__ ground__ and__ storming__ off__._

"_Come__ back __here__ you __brat__!"_

It was around an hour since she left the training ground to cool down a little and vent her frustrations when she heard footsteps coming closer to her.

"Are you calmer now?" A familiar voice called Kisara from behind the tree she was hiding.

"What do you want?" She asked in return, her voice a little rough and a little snappish.

She heard a sigh from behind the tree accompanied with some rustling sound, followed by a few seconds of awkward silence.

"We still need to keep the tests. There is sparring now before we go back to the bed."

"Do you want me to pick up a sword for our fight?" She said with her voice full of sarcasm, but also failing at the mid sentence.

"Don't start with _that_." He hissed back at her. "We both know I am much stronger than you, if that wasn't the case there won't be a master-apprentice relationship to us in the first place." Kisara was quiet for a moment before he continued.

"I want to know what you can do during a fight. Last time was too one-sided for me to properly gauge your strength, but now I want to see through all your skills."

She still didn't answered him, not wanting to give in after her behavior. She knew her previous act was too childish and even stupid, but she couldn't control herself in the end. It resurfaced some bad memories, and her temper never was the most controlled anyway. She understood now that she probably jumped into conclusions, but it hurt at the time to believe her master would imply that to her.

After calming down a little, she found out at her side a bottle of water with a small towel before heading back to the training ground.

* * *

><p>Since it was too late and the shop could be handled by his two disciples, Hakubi decided to spend the night on Ryōzanpaku. That's why the daughter of Kensei was at the dinner table again after taking a bath.<p>

"Is he always like that?" Asked Renka, letting her gaze rest on Kenichi prone and bound form.

"Only when he tries to run." Miu supplied innocently.

"How often that happens?" This time it was Hakubi, enjoying a bit of sake alongside Sasaki who answered his question.

"At least once a week he tries to slack off, but this is the first time he actually managed to get out of here without anyone noticing."

Renka simply shook her head, slightly disgusted by what she heard. Back at her home there were people that literally would kill in order for her father, now her mother, to teach them. It was just so sad to see him with a collection of strong and capable masters willing to teach him and he wants to run away!

Besides, it was dirt cheap too. Five thousand yen per month, and he had both housing and training from all the masters. That guy didn't knew how much he was lucky!

"Ah! But he always comes back!" Miu tried to defend her friend.

"I can see that." Renka answered dryly while looking at him again.

"And he is also loyal, and kind, and always think about his friends, and he always comes back for more in the end. Besides he is still here, right?"

"Maybe." She conceded. After all she didn't knew him personally to judge. "But I don't think he will ever be martial artist material. Not with this attitude at the very least, and I will be surprised if he ever become decent." She said, and arrows of pain, sorrow and despair hit Kenichi even while semi-conscious.

Miu tried to glare at her but sighed instead. Saddened for her poor friend but strangely relieved to hear that from the other girl, someone that could rival her on practically everything she thought absently minded, and went to the kitchen in order to prepare dinner.

* * *

><p>"Kisara, how long have you been practicing Taekwondo?" Her master asked while writing a few things on his clipboard, already back at the dormitory dinning hall. It was surprising to Kisara how they could had that serious argument early but he apparently forgot about that the moment she came back for the spar.<p>

So surprising because the soreness on her body came mostly from the intense physical training from the morning and evening drills, and she was left relatively unscratched from the fight. Relatively speaking.

"Since when I was little, why?" She answered between bites of yet another healthy meal.

"It shows." He says while taking another glance at his notes. "Near perfect form, good kicking strength, good flexibility and finally good speed." He says to her, trying to pretend he wasn't paying attention to her blush. "I'd like to tell the results today, but I will be doing a do over all night, so you can go ahead if you want while I take care of the dishes. Just be prepared to wake up early tomorrow."

She nodded, already finished with her meal, and went ahead to her bed. She was so tired she didn't heard the next thing her master muttered, but it was so low maybe even well rested there was a chance to miss it.

"I just hope you forgive me tomorrow, Kisara."


	3. New World: Survival Training I

_Author Notes:_

_It's been a long time since my last update on this one. Sorry for abandoning whoever call my honest fans, but I had a massive author's block on this story for a while. I hope this year I can update it more than once, but I can't tell you for certain, unfortunately. I had a few personal problems this past year, but at least this time around I can face them with some degree of dignity.  
><em>

_Either way, for those that saw the story on the first hour or so of my posting, I usually make minor changes of the story before it fully settle down. It is 100% certain that next day the story will be stablished and nothing will change on it._

_Special thanks to Tellecius Sundance, the author of Legacy of Rasengan Series (please continue part III!), for doing the beta of my story. If it weren't for him it would be 135% worse.  
><em>

_I plan to take this as an AU of both source materials, considering it already passed an year since I last updated. You will enjoy more if you only watched the anime of Kenichi and the Pre 4th Shinobi War on Naruto, though I plan to include a few things from later of the series._

* * *

><p>It wasn't a good day to be Nanjo Kisara.<p>

The first thing that greeted Kisara once awake was the splitting headache she had. Though not quite, it came pretty close to a previous one that made her swear off drinking until twenty-one. 'Though, if it's this bad before drinking, I'm willing to rethink it again.'

Next came what will become her ever-present nemesis from now on: a dull, ever-present feeling of _pain_and, as cliche as it sounds, even in places she didn't knew could hurt that much.

Only after rolling inside her futon a bit, her mind drifted to immediate concerns like the fact she wasn't in her own room. After that startling realization, more and more events came back to her. The start of the day with Freya, the gruesome 'warm up' and physical tests even before breakfast that became worse until lunch. Afterwards she remembered the strange, sometimes nonsensical but mostly frustrating tests, until _that_.

'I can't believe I did that', she thought ashamed. She was honest to admit being a naturally emotional person, though not enough to let it rule her. But even she had to admit yesterday was way out of proportion! She thanked the fact her master didn't outright mention anything to her afterwards, else she couldn't face him afterwards, and she hoped he would never mention it again.

'_Yet I owe him at least an apology,'_she winced at the thought. It wasn't everyday Kisara admitted she was wrong to anyone, but she did promise him to take any training and lifestyle her master might impose on her. However not even one day has passed and she already threw a fit! Now that the thought crossed her mind, she did act a bit strange...

"Kisara, how long do you plan to sleep?"

Her silent musings interrupted, Kisara managed to drag herself out of bed, silently cursing her master for deciding to start the day even earlier than yesterday. After changing into her training clothes and combing her hair, she followed Rikudō back to the kitchen in order to get some breakfast for herself, but was greeted with only a single cup of tea.

"Green tea before breakfast?" She managed to ask between her yawns and sips of the slightly bitter tea, sounding more coherent than before.

"Just your medicine for today. It also acts as a stimulant to help you wake up." He answered her while drinking his own, apparently only real, green tea.

She almost choked on her almost finished drink, swallowing the rest reflexively, and instantly sobering up.

"My _WHAT?!_" she yelled at him while slamming her hands at the table. "What do you mean my medicine, and for 'today' no less? Have you been drugging me?"

"Don't say it like that," says her master with a light chiding tone, as if reminding a kid to not take a cookie from the jar before dinner. "You make it sound like I hadn't warned you."

"WHEN?"

"_Kisara," her master tries to catch her attention again, "I want you to undergo a treatment starting with this tea for the next..." Unfortunately she simply drank the beverage in between the bites of her meal before he could finish, not really paying attention to him._

"_You know what, I'm going to tell you later." His answer was a simple nod and a 'hummhm' from her._

"Now that you mention it, you _kind_of told me something like that during dinner too," she said, pausing on her rant for a moment, trying to remember what she ate yesterday. It was yet another healthy meal with varied meats, vegetables, grains and even fruits for dessert, with some tea she assumed was simply green tea, but it had a different taste than normal. Tired as she was, Kisara didn't bothered to ask the brand.

"Besides, this one isn't really strong or does anything drastic. It only prepares your body to take the necessary medication later and is no different from natural medicine. Would you be as suspicious if I told you it is some form of secret Chinese medicine with over two thousand years of tradition?"

"Yes," she told him without missing a beat, glaring at her master.

"In any case," he continued as if he hasn't heard her. "You only need to take it for about a week. Afterwards, if you want to stop, there won't be any problems to your body." He paused for a moment before sighing, answering before she could continue herself.

"But I guess I should have insisted more about telling you earlier. Even if I know it will help you in the long run, that don't mean you should accept it blindly. And I don't plan to simply force it on you. For that, I'm sorry."

Kisara's gaze softened slightly after hearing that, glad to know her master wasn't above apologizing when he screws up. Though, there were still some questions to be answered.

"Alright then," her voice was less confrontational. "But what this medicine is for?"

"Well, the treatment is meant to enable you to regain your body full potential," he raised his hand to forestall her protests. "Most of the necessary work is done during your formative years, starting at six years old on the earliest and nine at the oldest, involving rigorous physical and mental training. Now, I _could_ train you to try to reach your potential, and you _could_reach it in a decade or so of that type of training. Unfortunately that would leave you stuck with an unreasonable amount of time as you try to pass this initial wall to reach your true potential. In order to break those walls before you're fifty, you need something more drastic and permanent."

"I'm not sure I want to use _drugs_to reach my full potential," she said the word with venom and disgust, equating their use as the same as using weapons.

"Well, it's not something as simple as using steroids to improve your performance. In fact, this type of treatment causes you to feel weaker than before until the end of the final dosage." That gave pause to Kisara's thoughts. "The patient experiences some uncomfortable side effects, ranging from nausea, dizziness, mood swings and lethargy, to say the least. That doesn't count the fact that continuing the treatment past a certain point is actively harmful to the body, with loss of muscle mass, liver and eventual other organ failures, and even strokes are not uncommon for those relying on the medication too much."

Now she was really getting curious, with a good dose of apprehension. On one hand this kind of treatment isn't something as simple as steroid use to enhance someone short term, which were closer to hormonal treatments actually. But on the other hand, she wasn't sure the man in front of her was qualified to apply it.

"What the treatment actually _does_is give your body the same potential of growth you had as a kid. It's normally used as a rehabilitation tool for adult shinobi who were a step below from forcibly retiring." Her master concluded, sitting a bit straighter and looking rather proud of himself for some reason.

"Are you even _qualified_to apply this treatment on anyone?" she asked, still suspicious of this procedure.

Her response was a grin from her master. "The beauty of this is that even _you_are qualified to apply it. The creation of the medicine is rather easy, and I have all materials with me. It's just: drink a few drinks and eat a few pills for some time and you get it. It's just recommended that someone else other than the patient administer the treatment, just to make sure because of the dangers of overdoing the medication. But aside from that, all you need is to diligently go through the proper steps."

"That sounds awfully convenient," the apprentice replied, skeptical of what she just heard. _'As if medicine works that way.'_

The master just shrugged. "It _is_ a secret set of medicines. There are people who would gladly give of an arm and a leg in order to get their hands on this treatment recipe." Kisara wasn't sure about the last part, and had this feeling he was still hiding something about it from her. But in this case, on the veracity of how valuable this medicine was…  
>"It isn't all that bad, you might even get a second growth spurt, growing a few centimeters," he paused for a moment looking at Kisara. "And other stuff."<p>

"What other stuff?" she replied in confusion before her master stood up with a grin.

"Now that would be telling," he said with a wink, before his voice became serious again. "Let's go training, we have a lot of ground to cover and the day has already started."

He led a grumbling apprentice in tow outside. She was at the same time apprehensive and somewhat hopeful of this treatment. On one hand, the side effects alone would be a pain to endure. The fact that mood swings were expected meant that her behavior last night was, in her head, totally justified and thus she could postpone apologizing until later. On the other hand, if she could get a few centimeters taller, it would be enough of an investment for her, but she couldn't stop herself from being curious at this 'other stuff' he mentioned.

* * *

><p>Kisara was panting from the training, which proved to be far more difficult than she first thought, both physically and mentally.<p>

"_Survival training?" she repeated in disbelief, but quickly enough she remembered the words of her master where he would teach her a lifestyle instead of martial arts._

"_And more physical and mental training. I just thought that we could multitask a bit," replied the Sage while leading her through the compound towards the training grounds, until they finally entered a caged area full of metallic plaques with strange inscriptions on them. The area was a huge section of the forest walled up, though it didn't looked any different than the other areas they passed before._

"_Welcome to the Forest of Death," said Rikudō while unlocking the gate. "Currently, there is too much 'forest' and not enough 'death.' But soon enough I will correct that little problem."_

"_Heh, good one," Kisara snickered at the good humor of her master, but somehow the grin she got as a response wasn't reassuring._

"Again", barked her master, and she started to climb the tree once more with the equipment on her back weighting ten kilograms total. She had been doing that for a while now, after a pitiful performance on her survival training. She almost didn't manage to make a fire even with a lighter, the task being harder than it looks. Lucky for her the Sage was more than willing on letting her use a wide variety of alternative equipment and teaching her how to use them.

The physical training was also as gruesome as she remembered from yesterday, possibly even harsher since she had so little for breakfast. With the hunger as motivator however, she picked up quickly the necessary knowledge to forage some fresh and safe food, which the forest proved to be rather bountiful. Yet again her hunger was used as a tool to improve her training, by meditating after being exhausted and hungry. The girl had a hard time doing her best to focus while under such adversities.

"Enough! Good work, Kisara," he said while his student slumps on the ground, dead tired from the workout. "Let's go get some lunch first before we continue our training."

"Finally!" she said while trying to stand up and retain what little dignity she had.

It was then that Kisara felt a shiver run down her spine, and she took a glance at her back but saw nothing but shadows casts from the trees. She couldn't shake off the feeling of dread, but dismissed it as nothing important. Certainly, her master was merely joking when he introduced the area as the 'Forest of Death'…right?

Unknown to her, the two of them were not alone, with a pair of eyes full of rage and hatred trailing behind them.

* * *

><p>She started with a snap kick with the intention to follow up with a spinning side kick. Her opponent would have none of it and <em>pulled <em>her foot with enough force that she lost her balance and overextend herself, being hit in the face for her troubles.

Trying to ignore the pain, she quickly pulled herself back to her stance. Her master hadn't followed up on his attack, giving her the chance to gather her bearings. But as soon she regained her balance, he closed his distance with her in an incredible show of speed. At practically on grappling distance with her, he started to punch her torso with small, compact attacks, denying the advantage of range that a kick normally have. Not only that, but every moment she tried to get some distance he retaliated with a low kick that stopped her tracks, being strong enough for her to feel it but not enough to make her limp with a single attack.

In this case, the weakness of Taekwondo showed. Their over-reliance on mid to high kicks which, while fast in itself as a martial art, had a limited range to be fully effective. And so long as you are inside that range, the Taekwondo martial artist options were more limited. To add insult to the injury, as a rule of thumb they aren't used to blows on their legs like some other martial arts such as Muay Thai, and are generally vulnerable to low kicks.

Of course, a more experienced martial artist could work past those limitations, preventing those situations from arising in the first place or covering their weakness with improved punch techniques or even throws. But at this point, the boundaries between one style and another become muddled.

As the fight progressed, it was clear Kisara was outmatched, but not in the way that she expected.

Her front kick was countered by an _uppercut _of all things, hitting her on the bone and stinging like nobody's business, and her three jumping roundhouse kick combo was stopped by her master _hiding behind a tree, _catching her by surprise once he reappeared from her blind spot after circling through the trees and outmaneuvering her. It certainly couldn't be called _fight _as much as it was a _battle_. The only unspoken rules where that neither of them would seriously hurt each other, but even that rule was treading on thin ice with how heated the fight was becoming.

When the opportunity arose, Kisara started with a crescent kick followed by a tornado kick, and with the corner of her eye she saw her master still in her attack range, preparing to finish the combo with an axe kick in order to both gain time and reassess her proper engagement range. What she wasn't expecting was the dirt flying directly at her eyes blinding her momentarily, but it was enough for her master to seize the opportunity and throw her, leaving Kisara with her back on the ground.

_'I know what he wants me to do, but still, it's infuriating.'_Of course she knew the theory since her master was very clear on that subject. Their spars now would be more brutal in nature; one step closer to what he considered a 'shinobi battle' while still being far safer and 'light' than the real deal. To use the environment as a weapon itself, to resort to dirty tricks to win. He said that there was a point to this exercise, she just couldn't grasp it no matter how she wracked her brain.

"I think that's enough," he said while extending his hand to pick her up, which she accepted as graciously as she could. They both stood at a certain distance, and performed the little bow she was taught, then making the 'peace' sign of shinobi after a spar by interlocking their index and middle finger in a loose analogue of a handshake. "We will just finish off the cool down exercises and then I will be off while you stay here."

"Off? Are you going to leave me here alone?" Isn't he going to _teach _her or something? At least supervise her?

"I will be off for three days on business, but you are well supplied with the equipment I gave you. Now, I want you to keep up the training regimen we were doing in the mornings. But dedicate the evenings to do more meditation, going through the exercises I showed you. I don't expect much improvement in only three days, but I _do _expect you to do your very best while I am away."

He turned to her with a faraway look on his face, before it turned serious. "Most of shinobi training is actually spent in self-training. And though I might guide and motivate you, only _you_have the key to advancing to your full potential. That's a lesson you need to learn as early as possible." Then he broke into a disarming grin, his voice soft and encouraging. "I believe in you, Kisara, and I know you will flourish and improve both under my training and on your own."

Kisara tried to hide it, without much success, a small smile creeping on her face and a mild blush. From the short period together she knew her master was a demanding taskmaster, often asking the unreasonable, sometimes even the impossible in her opinion. But in the end she always managed to perform admirably until the end.

She wasn't sure if she could retain the same amount of progress by training alone, but she had to try her hardest for the sake of her master and, most importantly, herself.

* * *

><p>Night had fallen and Kisara was doing a final check in on her equipment.<p>

"Let's see. Three kunais, enough wire to make a few traps if I reuse it (though I'm not proficient on trap-making yet), some shuriken." She took a box containing six balls of different colors. As remembering the instructions, she took one of them to inspect, finding nothing wrong in the gray explosive. Gray for smoke bombs and red for incendiary bombs.

She also found her medicine in another box, each of the pastries meant to be dropped into the water, shaken and drunk either hot or cold. Though apparently the hotter the water, the more bearable the taste was, according to her master.

Several pieces of light equipment were also there, such as rope, lighter, a cloak, canteen, a first aid kit, and a few other niceties that all put together won't slow her down much. Everything properly checked, she started to pick up some materials to make a fire when a shiver ran through her spine. An intense sense of dread washed her over for an instant, just to vanish almost as immediately as it started.

'_I've got a bad feeling about this,'_ thought Kisara before going back to her chore.

* * *

><p>As Kisara worked on, two figures were watching her from the top of one of the trees. The smaller shadow regarded the taller one with both respect and curiosity, and spoke with a grave, old voice.<p>

"Are you sure this is wise, Rikudō-sama? To pit her against him so soon? I thought you took care of your young with more care than that."

Rikudō glanced to his right, considering his words carefully before answered his aging friend. "I need her to have an attitude change as fast as possible. Normally, it would come with years of training and proper education, but unfortunately we don't have the luxury of time. If I don't start the real training soon, we will lose a small window of opportunity."

He turned his gaze back to his apprentice down the tree, doing her best to set up camp while remembering the lessons he imparted on her. Yet again he was impressed with her speed of learning, and above all else her spirit and drive to improve. "Besides", he continued with an afterthought, "I'm fond of the 'sink or swim' approach."

"She could die," reminded the shorter shadow. "He is not to be underestimated, even after being starved and wounded. When cornered, a being can bring previously unseen potential to the front, but that goes both ways."

"I will not allow it," said Rikudō matter-of-factly. "If she cannot handle him, I will kill him myself. I prefer if she can deal with him in the end, but I won't endanger my student more than strictly necessary."

"She will get hurt, though," his friend reminded him once again, and this time he just shrugged.

"I can heal her, good enough to not even leave scars. I'm sure she will understand my reasons. Eventually."

The aged friend just chuckled at the nonchalant way he treated severe bodily harm, not for the first time being impressed by the being at his side. "You're different from the others. Ruthless in a way I can understand, yet still caring. I like that."

Rikudō just smiled at his friend, before wincing at how _wrong _Kisara tried to start a fire. It brought him bad memories of a time that would never come back.

"Still, there is one thing nagging me," asked his friend, his tone more casual and innocently curious this time. "What are you actually going to do outside?"

"Oh," he replied absently minded. "Just this and that, nothing really important."

* * *

><p>As Tanimoto Natsu, also known as the Sixth Fist of Ragnarok Hermit, spent his time doing his homework in order to maintain his 'perfect student' mask, he couldn't help but have a strange feeling that his life was about to get more interesting in the days to come.<p>

As if his thought tempted fate itself, he heard the front door bell ringing.

'_Who could be at this hour?'_he thought while the bell rang a second time. At the fourth time, he was already in front of the door, impatience and annoyance clearly visible in his face for a moment before he schooled his features just in case.

"Yes, who is—?" the door suddenly opened fully by a massive man behind the door, but that wasn't what made Hermit jaw drop in astonishment. "_Sifu_?"

Ma Sougetsu, master class chinese martial artist and Tanimoto's master, was in front of his disciple after an untold long time away from him. Making a beeline towards a cabinet where an old whiskey was being guarded, and afterwards he popped into the couch on the living room. Ma sat with his arms spread out and his feet over the table and started to down the drink as if it was water.

As Hermit was about to complain about his teacher's bad habit, and the fact that was the last bottle of a _very _expensive brand of whiskey, a wallet was thrown on his direction which he deftly caught. A bit apprehensive, he slowly opened the wallet to see what this was about.

"Who is Tanaka Kirito?" he asked, while counting the substantial money inside the wallet.

"He lent me his wallet. Now go make yourself useful and buy some more beer, I will soon finish up this bottle anyway."

He wanted to argue, he really did, but he also knew that trying to keep his master away from his one true love was an exercise in futility. Sighing, he went to the nearest convenience store to buy his master's drink. Though during the whole travel, he never stopped trying to figure out why his master was here right now. Still, he could pester him for more training now that he was here. Even though he suspected said training would be as unreasonable as always.

When Hermit came back, his master had already finished the bottle, and was simply staring at the ceiling, as if contemplating the deep meaning of life or some other complicated philosophical question. He tried to call his master several times, almost even dangling the beer in front of his face, but he remained unresponsive.

Hermit simply didn't knew what to say to his master that looked so out of character. However, something in the back of his mind made him think that he himself acting out of character would give a reaction. Thus he _joked_, and the following next words came out of his mouth.

"Wow, master, it's almost as if you lost to someone."

The reaction was immediate, and the bottle on the hand of Ma Sougetsu shattered into tiny fragments, not even a single drop of blood drawn from his hand. His expression spoke of a barely controlled fury.

"Rikudō!" he growled, letting some killing intent wash over the house, sending shivers down the spine of his disciple.

_"Who are you?" asked Ma Sougetsu in a disinterested voice towards the man in front of him. He wasn't even sure why he bothered to talk with this trash, but something in the back of his mind made him feel wary of the mysterious individual. It certainly wasn't the attire the man was wearing, since Sougetsu had seen weirder in his career as a martial artist._

_Said man was wearing a white overcoat with a strange triangular hat on his head, with the kanji of 'fire' in a visible position at the front. Under the cloak he was wearing a blue attire with a green flak jacket beneath, the man's face hidden in shadows except his mouth._

_"You may call me the Rikudō Sennin, Ma Sougetsu. You're a rather interesting person, you know? When I heard about you initially, I was sure I would need to eventually kill you." Sougetsu simply snorted at that notion, dismissing him as yet another nobody who wanted to further his name by defeating Ma Sougetsu, "But as reports of your 'performance' as a bodyguard appeared, it painted an interesting picture of you. You always went after those that could pay the most but were actually smart enough to avoid conflict with other factions, or were target of yet another assassin without scruples were you could finish the enemy with extreme haste. In fact, for someone with such a violent lifestyle, you have a disturbingly low amount of clashes with the police."_

_"... What are you trying to say?" Ma asked, not really understanding where he was going, but now he was a bit on guard considering the man, Rikudō, had such information on him. It's not something you notice unless you comb some of his most recent contracts. And though he doubted the Sage had ironclad proof that this pattern was a constant for him, such speculation would prove to be true on closer scrutiny._

_"I want to test you, Ma Sougetsu. To know the true extent of what the best of the best can offer," the man said in response, only his wicked grin being visible on his face._

_"Huh. As if I haven't heard that before,"Sougetsu said dismissively at Rikudō. "Don't blame me if you end up dying."_

_Rikudō's only response was an even wider grin._

_And then he disappeared from sight._

_Sougetsu didn't have the time to widen his eyes. His instincts kicked in almost instantly, blocking a high kick from his side. He tried to retaliate immediately with a kick of his own, but he was already being attacked from behind with a powerful blow. Somehow his opponent was already circling him and outmaneuvering him in a speed surpassing his own._

_Not willing to go down that easily, he released any restraint he still had, and increased his own speed to the very limits, knowing he was facing a worthy opponent this time. Powerful and precise blows were exchanged and both combatants weaved and parried each other attacks, not willing to move an inch from their position._

_Ma Sougetsu was the first to break that equilibrium by switching from his prefered powerful style of Piguaquan, the chop-hanging fist style, to the more versatile on close quarters Wing Chun. Now on equal tactical footing with his enemy, the chinese martial arts master unleashed a chain of everflowing attacks, starting with punches on close range intersected with grappling attempts of the enemy own limbs._

_Not to be outdone the sage blocked the attacks and avoided the grappling attempts by throwing his body weight around and taking advantage of his speed superiority. The defense was somewhat clumsy, but Ma was impressed by the fact he could keep up while obviously having little experience in this type of fight._

_Soon enough the Sage tried to disengage by dodging backwards, but this move gave Ma his opportunity. By switching back into the chop-hanging style he unleashed one of his specialty attacks by using the circular momentum of his body to increase the striking power, combined with the perfect timing to catch Rikudō on the chest, hoping to eliminate his opponent._

_"Uryu Banda!"_

_By twisting his body sideways the Sage avoided the attack by a hair's breath, and Ma could see a distinct smirk framing the face of the blond man. Rikudō body twist became a full spin, culminating on a powerful spinning heel kick, followed by a crescent kick on the same spot to cause twice the damage._

_"Konoha Senpū Otoshi!"_

_Both attacks were parried, their power still relatively light compared with Sougetsu own vicious assault, but that gave the Sage the opportunity to safely disengage in an inhuman feat of acrobatics by using Sougetsu as leverage and jumping back several meters, all of that from a position where gravity should have made him fall like a sack of potatoes._

_But as soon as the Sage touched the ground Sougetsu was already on his tail, coming with a flying crescent kick, but instead he hit the pavement on the ground and leaving a massive indentation on the ground. This time he had enough time to widen his eyes, cursing himself for underestimating his opponent speed. He looked left and right without finding him, until he turned up and saw the man standing on top of the electricity post._

_Before Ma could follow his enemy, Rikudō crouched on top of the post and flung himself towards the chinese martial artist like a missile, hitting him with a combo of a frontal kick and a spinning heel kick._

_"Konoha Senpū!"_

_Both attacks were parried, but Sougetsu could feel their power was stronger than before. He could tell that if he continued to block those attacks, the accumulated damage on his arms would quickly begin to weaken him. If the man in front of him could maintain his stamina as well as the speed, there was no way Sougetsu could outlast his enemy._

_Besides, this style of fighting was more in the realm of his brother to outlast up his enemies. Sougetsu was always the one to go after overwhelming force, after all._

_Standing his ground, Sougetsu gathered all the strength he had, and pushed his speed past his usual limits, leaving the marks of his foot on the ground. Certainly a much cruder ability compared with the smooth, almost soundless speed of his opponent, but it was more than enough to bridge the gap._

_Coming literally in less than a blink of the eye, he caught his enemy by surprise with two relatively light attacks at his torso, ending the assault with a powerful palm strike to the middle of his enemy's body. It was his ultimate attack, able to pass through the defenses of his enemy and cause damage directly to the internal organs, "Kyousa!" He have yet to see someone survive this attack from him._

_'Yet, why is he still grinning'?_

_In fact the grin on the face of the Sage never left his face, even while his body should be destroyed by now._

_As his opponent went flying away, his instincts kicked in once more. Just in time for him to barely defend against an attack coming from behind him and taking a glancing hit. Both combatants took some distance once more, disbelief on the eyes of Sougetsu when he realized that somehow he had hit a trash can._

_"You're good," said the self-styled Sage of the Six Paths. "But I'm afraid I have to cut this short tonight."_

_It was then when the Chinese martial artist felt a powerful wave of killing intent wash over him, and he somehow saw a small knife like object embedding deep into his brain, coming faster than sound. He blinked, and this time the opponent was standing over him, his own heart on the hands of that man. He took a deep breath, and this time his vision was rotating, and he could see his own body failing on the ground._

_Sougetsu brought up his own killing intent, as if to form a spiritual barrier against the sheer hostility and intensity of the enemy's own killing intent._

_'What was that?' he thought, now truly apprehensive against his enemy. He never experienced this kind of thick, powerful killing intent before. He heard of tales of strange techniques that worked only with killing intent, but this was different._

_It wasn't a threat of an attack that would bring ruin to the opponent, but rather a plain promise of death his own brain interpreted as it saw fit. A truly powerful ability that would have paralyzed a lesser man._

_This brief moment of peace was shattered once more when the Sage literally disappeared from sight in a show of speed that paled his previous performance, the particles of dust on the air still trying to realize they should fall._

_"Gah... hah!"_

_The world of Sougetsu exploded into pain as the enemy strike hit his stomach, enveloped into a strange blue aura._

_"Konoha Gouriki Gouken!"_

_Time had seemed to slow down and Sougetsu tried to resist the attack, but the level of power was so far above the previous showing that it was like comparing light and darkness, night and day. He felt his insides being dangerously compressed, and he almost threw up right then and there from the massive impact of the blow._

_He flew backwards with incredible speed, his body bouncing across the street until it was forcefully stopped by a wall, cracks being visible behind him._

_"Don't worry," said the voice of the Sage from his side already, "I held back enough so you won't have any lasting injuries. You will feel very sore afterwards, but nothing rest and a good meal won't fix. Who knows, maybe I will even send my disciple to fight you later to see how it turns out? Either way, you did good, Ma Sougetsu."_

_Sougetsu tried to retort, but all he could see in front of him was darkness, and soon his thoughts followed the same pattern._

"Brat," Ma Sougetsu started suddenly, almost startling Tanimoto. "Tomorrow, we will continue your training. You better prepare yourself."

Tanimoto stopped for a moment, before a wicked smile graced his features. "Yes, sifu."

'Finally,' thought Hermit, 'I will gain more power and then…_'_ For a brief moment, an image of long lost days, both happier and bittersweet memories flashed in front of him, of simple times. Of someone that would never come back, but as soon as it came, it was ruthlessly crushed down. 'And then I will _crush_ all opposition!'


End file.
